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2 Responses to “Festival report charts impact, complaints”

Pat Crow

Comment by Terrie: (I am confused by remark about the renting space in front of stores. I can tell you that I have been in business for almost three years, and not one person has ever approached me by the festival to support it.) Festival/Pat Crow response: The ‚Äúcall for entry‚Äù forms (to reserve the space in front of your business) are hand delivered to all downtown businesses in the area where the Homemades & Trades Show is held, including S Main from the Square to Ohio Ave., Vine from Mulberry to Gay, and Gambier from Mulberry to Gay. In addition, a call for entry news release for the Homemades & Trades Show, as well as the Fine Arts show, is place in the Mount Vernon News (twice in 2009), and is on the website to download. It is a very well advertised show.

Comment by Terrie: (I have done it on my own, and after the last two years, I will not be supporting it this year.) Festival/Pat Crow response: The Festival appreciates all supporters of the Festival in every respect. Thank you. Please read on . . .

Comment by Terrie: (As far as the survey, I could not even complete it, as it was not set up properly, and I finally just gave up on giving my opinion.) Festival/Pat Crow response: News releases were posted in the Mount Vernon News and with WMVO radio (on the news and on AM Knox County) concerning the various methods that could have been used to complete the survey. One method was the internet (we had 151 successful internet responses), as alternate method was to pick up a paper copy and submit. A second survey (with slightly different questions) was hand distributed to downtown businesses in the festival corridor. So, Downtown businesses had at least two alternate methods to submit. I would note that we realized that some computers are not compatible with the Survey Monkey web based survey engine. We allowed for that variation by using these methods. No one can claim that they were kept from submitting a survey.

Comment by Terrie: (I also sent messages to the contact from the website to have someone bring me some flyers. It never happened, and the night before I was told by Mr. Crow that I had to come down and get them myself.) Festival/Pat Crow response: I remember how incredibly busy we are each year the week before the Festival. We were behind last year with the program delivery, no apology offered. Instead of demanding that we run up the street with the programs on the eve of the event, offering to help deliver them would have been helpful.

Comment by Terrie: (I had a large tent in front of my store and the view was obstructed and my sales were lower than my regular weekly sales. It made no sense to put tents up on the side streets because the vendor spots were not full on Main Street.) Festival/Pat Crow response: In 2009, we had a record year for the Homemades and Trades show. Every space on South Main, and on the first half block off of Main on Vine and Gambier were sold and paid for. In cooperation with the downtown businesses, we do not pack the booth assignments side by side with no space between – we allow ample space for folks to walk between many of the tents. We do require the downtown businesses who reserve the space in front of their businesses to put some sort of display in that spot. This is hard to enforce, but we will not let someone leave it empty year after year. There is an obvious contradiction here, a real ‚ÄúCatch 22‚Äù ‚Äì if we let the businesses reserve the space and leave it empty, we are criticized for not having vendors and artisans at the Festival, that we have somehow failed to sell the show properly; OR if we fill all the street booth spaces full and tight together, there we get slammed for blocking the stores. We obviously have ‚Äúno shows‚Äù or‚Äù late shows‚Äù each year.

Comment by Terrie: (Brown paper bags (not police bags) were put up on Wednesday afternoon and I lost business, and vendors were not even supposed to set up until Thursday.) Festival/Pat Crow response: Brown bags with appropriate large labels as authorized by the City and/or orange barrels were NOT placed until very late on Wednesday night on S Main (Vine to Ohio), Vine, and Gambier. They were placed on the Square and first block spokes by the City stating ‚ÄúNo Parking after 3 pm‚Äù earlier on Wednesday, since we need to set up the food concessions and the main stage starting at 5 pm Wednesday.

Comment by Terrie: (I can tell you from a business owner aspect, it is a great disappointment and I would rather not be part of it this year. I am sure I will not be making friends with my opinion, but I have given it the benefit of the doubt.) Festival/Pat Crow response: We try to be friends with all downtown businesses. We realize that some businesses will benefit, some will not, and some will see a brief reduction in business that week. Many businesses figure out how to leverage the crowds to their benefit, some do not, some are not able to due to their business type, and some close and go on vacation.

Comment by Terrie: (I have gone through protocol by sending questions and concerns, only to be ignored) Festival/Pat Crow response: We try to be responsive, but we are inundated with communications around Festival time. We also sometimes regrettably loose email to our firewall/spam filters.

We never intentionally ignore anyone. My direct email is pcrow@DanEmmettFestival.org, my phone is 740-392-6102, and our office is at 107 S Main (hours are generally from 9 am to 4:30 pm). We are a small office, and all are part time workers, so calling first is preferred. I meet and speak to thousands of people each year. We are not perfect, however, I do not accept the criticism that we are unapproachable or unreachable. Also understand that our work for the Festival is volunteer, we do not get paid for the 500+ hours we each (Sandy & Pat Crow) put into the event each year. Our paid work (CVB & Woodward) must be completed first. You know, we are ‚Äújust down the street‚Äù for all downtown businesses, we do not ignore anyone. Pat Crow

Terrie

I am confused by remark about the renting space in front of stores. I can tell you that I have been in business for almost three years, and not one person has ever approached me by the festival to support it. I have done it on my own, and after the last two years, I will not be supporting it this year. As far as the survey, I could not even complete it, as it was not set up properly, and I finally just gave up on giving my opinion. I also sent messages to the contact from the website to have someone bring me some flyers. It never happened, and the night before I was told by Mr. Crow that I had to come down and get them myself. I had a large tent in front of my store and the view was obstructed and my sales were lower than my regular weekly sales. It made no sense to put tents up on the side streets because the vendor spots were not full on Main Street. Brown paper bags (not police bags) were put up on Wednesday afternoon and I lost business, and vendors were not even supposed to set up until Thursday. I can tell you from a business owner aspect, it is a great disappointment and I would rather not be part of it this year. I am sure I will not be making friends with my opinion, but I have given it the benefit of the doubt. I have gone through protocol by sending questions and concerns, only to be ignored.

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